2024–25 NIFL Premiership

NIFL Premiership

Season	2024–25
Dates	10 August 2024-22 March 2025
Matches played	98
Goals scored	301 (3.07 per match)
Top goalscorer	Matthew Shevlin (12 goals)
Biggest home win	Linfield 5-1 Loughgall (24 August 2024)
Biggest away win	Loughgall 1-5 Cliftonville (14 September 2024)
Highest scoring	Linfield 5-1 Loughgall (24 August 2024)
← 2023–24 2025–26 → All statistics correct as of 16 November 2024.

The 2024–25 NIFL Premiership (known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is the 17th season of the NIFL Premiership, the highest level of league football in Northern Ireland and the 124th season of Irish League football overall.

Teams

The league consisted of twelve teams; the top eleven teams from the previous season, and one team promoted from the NIFL Championship. Larne entered the season as defending champions (for the second consecutive season).

Portadown were promoted as champions of the 2023–24 NIFL Championship (returning to the top-flight after a one-season absence), replacing the 2023–24 NIFL Premiership bottom-placed team Newry City.

Stadia and locations

Belfast

Ballymena United

Carrick Rangers

Coleraine

Dungannon Swifts

Glenavon

Larne

Portadown

Loughgall

Belfast teams : Cliftonville
Crusaders
Glentoran
Linfield

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Locations of the 2024–25 NIFL Premiership teams

Cliftonville

Crusaders

Glentoran

Linfield

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Locations of the Belfast-based 2024–25 NIFL Premiership teams

Club	Stadium	Location	Capacity
Ballymena United	The Showgrounds	Ballymena	3,824 (all seated)
Carrick Rangers	Loughshore Hotel Arena	Carrickfergus	2,100 (380 seated)
Cliftonville	Solitude	Belfast	3,054 (all seated)
Coleraine	The Showgrounds	Coleraine	4,843 (1,607 seated)
Crusaders	Seaview	Belfast	3,208 (all seated)
Dungannon Swifts	Stangmore Park	Dungannon	2,000 (300 seated)
Glenavon	Mourneview Park	Lurgan	3,302 (all seated)
Glentoran	The Oval	Belfast	6,054 (3,991 seated)
Larne	Inver Park	Larne	2,732 (1,632 seated)
Linfield	Windsor Park	Belfast	18,434 (all seated)
Loughgall	Lakeview Park	Loughgall	3,000
Portadown	Shamrock Park	Portadown	3,940 (2,765 seated)

Regular season

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Linfield	17	11	2	4	33	15	+18	35	Qualification for Section A
2	Cliftonville	17	9	3	5	26	16	+10	30
3	Dungannon Swifts	18	9	2	7	24	21	+3	29
4	Portadown	17	8	4	5	24	17	+7	28
5	Glentoran	18	8	3	7	19	16	+3	27
6	Ballymena United	17	9	0	8	21	20	+1	27
7	Crusaders	16	8	2	6	20	18	+2	26	Qualification for Section B
8	Coleraine	18	7	4	7	29	24	+5	25
9	Larne	13	6	3	4	15	11	+4	21
10	Carrick Rangers	17	4	3	10	18	29	−11	15
11	Glenavon	18	3	6	9	11	25	−14	15
12	Loughgall	18	3	2	13	18	46	−28	11

Updated to match(es) played on 24 November 2024. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head points; 5) Head-to-head goal difference; 6) Drawing of lots

Results

For matches 1–22, each team plays every other team twice (home and away). For matches 23–33, each team plays every other team for the third time (either at home or away).

Home \ Away	BYM	CRK	CLF	COL	CRU	DUN	GLA	GLT	LAR	LIN	LGL	POR	BYM	CRK	CLF	COL	CRU	DUN	GLA	GLT	LAR	LIN	LGL	POR
Ballymena United	—	30 NOV	3–2	0–1	0–1	14 DEC	3–1	1–0		0–2	4–1	0–3	—	—	15 FEB	—	—	—	30 DEC	11 JAN	—	8 FEB	—	22 FEB
Carrick Rangers	1–4	—	2–0	2–1	3–0	0–1	2–0	2–3		1–3	14 DEC	0–1	18 JAN	—	—	8 FEB	30 DEC	—	—	15 MAR		—	22 FEB	—
Cliftonville	0–1	7 DEC	—	2–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	21 DEC	1–3	0–0	4–0	1–0	—	22 MAR	—	—	—	30 DEC	—	22 FEB	—	—	18 JAN	8 FEB
Coleraine	4–2	3–1		—	1–2	4–1	0–2	2–1	1–1	0–3	2–0	7 DEC	26 DEC	—	8 MAR	—	18 JAN	—	—	15 FEB	—	—	—	22 MAR
Crusaders	1–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	—	30 NOV	0–1	13 DEC		2–3	3–1	0–3	15 FEB	—	26 DECa	—	—	11 JAN	—	—	—	8 MAR	15 MAR	25 JAN
Dungannon Swifts	1–0	4–0	1–4	1–1	1–0	—	2–0	1–0	21 DEC	7 DEC	1–3	2–0	8 MAR	15 FEB	—	25 JAN	—	—	18 JAN	—	—	22 MAR	26 DEC	—
Glenavon	0–1	1–1	1–2	30 NOV	7 DEC	1–1	—	0–3	0–0	0–3	2–2	2–1	—	25 JAN	15 FEB	11 JAN	22 FEB	—	—	—	22 MAR	—	—	26 DEC
Glentoran	7 DEC	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–0	—	0–2	1–0	2–0	0–2	—	—	—	—	22 MAR	8 FEB	8 MAR	—	18 JAN	26 DEC	—	—
Larne	0–1	26 DEC	1 DEC	2–1	1–1	0–3	14 DEC	2–0	—	0–1	2–0		25 JAN	—	11 JAN	15 MAR	8 FEB	22 FEB	—	—	—	—	—	—
Linfield	2–0	1–0	1–2	14 DEC		3–1	21 DEC	1–3	0–1	—	5–1	30 NOV	—	11 JAN	25 JAN	22 FEB	—	—	15 MAR	—	30 DEC	—	15 FEB	—
Loughgall	21 DEC	3–0	1–5	0–4	0–4	0–2	3–0	30 NOV	7 DEC	1–3	—	2–2	22 MAR	—	—	30 DEC	—	—	8 FEB	25 JAN	8 MAR	—	—	11 JAN
Portadown	0–1	1–1	14 DEC	2–2	21 DEC	2–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	2–2	1–0	—	—	8 MAR	—	—	—	15 MAR	—	30 DEC	15 FEB	18 JAN	—	—

Updated to match(es) played on 24 November 2024. Source: Northern Ireland Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
For upcoming matches, an "a" indicates there is an article about the rivalry between the two participants.

Matches 34–38

For the final five matches, the table splits into two halves, with the top six teams forming Section A and the bottom six teams forming Section B. Each team plays every other team in their respective section once. The fixtures are reversed from those played during rounds 23–33, ensuring that teams have played every other team in their respective section twice at home and twice away overall throughout the season.

Play-offs

Conference League play-off

Clubs placed 3rd–7th compete for the second and final place in the 2025–26 Conference League first qualifying round. The play-offs are one-off matches, with the higher-ranked teams given home advantage and extra time and penalties used to determine the winner if necessary. If the 2024–25 Irish Cup winners finish in the top three, the third-placed team will qualify automatically for the Conference League spot and the spot will be vacated. If the Irish Cup winners finish in between fourth and seventh, that spot will be vacated.

NIFL Premiership play-off

The eleventh-placed club will face the second-placed club from the 2024–25 NIFL Championship in a two-legged play-off for the final place in the 2025–26 NIFL Premiership.

External links

• Official website